June 10: Letters To the Editor

Sunday, June 9, 2013 -- Anonymous (not verified)

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Letters to the Editor

Monday, June 10, 2013

Christians threatened

Eastern Orthodox Christians are disturbed by the lack of concern over atrocities and massacres that are being perpetrated by the rebels in Syria (“Syria must learn lessons of holy wars past,” June 6). In April, two bishops, one Greek Orthodox and the other Syrian Orthodox, were kidnapped by the elements challenging the government in Syria. Western powers’ Middle East policies are blatantly immoral with their apathetic stance toward the large Christian minorities in countries such as Syria.

There has been not the slightest concern for what might happen to the Christians of Syria if regime change was attempted by those who endorse the downfall of Bashar Assad’s government.

For many centuries, Russia was the champion of Orthodox Christianity against the Ottoman Empire. Russian interests in Syria have as their sole interest the preservation and protection of the Christian minorities, nothing more.

— Theodore G. Karakostas, Boston

Soldier not forgotten

Kudos to Steve Buckley for the wonderful column on Memorial Day honoring George J. Gottwald Jr., who was killed in action in Vietnam and has a neighborhood square named after him (“Brothers ensure Roslindale always remembers fallen soldier,” May 27). Very moving piece.

— Stephanie Siragusa, Boston

Wolves of Wall Street

I have read with some dismay the Herald’s coverage of the millions of dollars of abuse in the welfare system (“Gov: Put fraud in perspective,” May 31). The dismay I feel is not for the fraud, if that turns out to be the case, but the lack of context. The $18 million in questionable welfare benefits paid out over the more than two-year period represents a puny percentage of the total welfare expenditure, which amounted to about $1.7 billion last year. For any business, this would be considered efficient.

The Herald should turn its eye on the more difficult targets in our society, the Wall Street wolves who took billions out of the economy and nearly destroyed whole countries, not to mention devastating the world’s poor.

— Michael Burke, Wakefield

Fare hikes no fix

As a college student I have to be constantly aware of the rising costs in public transportation (“Fare increases won’t stem MBTA’s deficit,” June 6). It’s one more expense to tack onto an already huge bill. But the more we jack up MBTA prices, the more people will go back to using some kind of polluting automobile. Since the fare hikes took effect a year ago, T ridership dropped nearly 2 percent. We need the MBTA to realize that in order to keep riders they must keep fares low. Beyond that, if we care about the environment, we should also lower T fares and encourage more riders.